Problematic English Grammatical Structures

1
Problematic English Grammatical Structures

• Based on
• Berent, G. P. (1988). An assessment of
  syntactic capabilities. In M. Strong (Ed.),
  Language Learning and Deafness (pp. 133-161).
  Cambridge Cambridge University Press.
• Berent, G. P. (1993). Improvement in the
  English syntax of deaf college students.
  American Annals of the Deaf, 138, 55-61.

2
English Clausal Structures

• Infinitive Clauses His parents forced him to
  sell the motorcycle.
• Participial Clauses Slowly pouring the milk, I
  filled my cup.
• Gerund Clauses Instead of watching television,
  they went to sleep.
• Adverbial Clauses It started to rain while they
  were playing baseball.
• Relative Clauses Football is a sport that many
  people watch.
• Noun Clauses We think that she will go away.

3
Relative Order of Difficulty for NTID Students
from Least to Most Difficult(Based on Revised
Test of Ability to Subordinate)

• Adverbial Clauses - Most explicit SVO elements
• Noun Clauses - Explicit SVO but embedding
• Infinitive Clauses - Invisible subject, base
  form of the verb, common verb complement
• Gerund Clauses - Invisible subject, V-ing,
  various grammatical relations
• Relative Clauses - Gaps, WH-movement, embedding
• Participial Clauses - Invisible subject,
  V-ing/V-en, modifier

4
Improvement in English Syntax Over Time (Berent,
1993)

• High English Group (Michigan Test 65.5)
  Pretest 76 Posttest 80
• Mid English Group (Michigan Test 56.4)
• Pretest 62 Posttest 66
• Low English Group (Michigan Test 46.2)
• Pretest 48 Posttest 60
• RESULTS
• All three groups improved significantly between
  pretest and posttest.
• The Low English group improved to a
  significantly greater extent than the Mid and
  High groups.

5
Grammar Group Winter 2000-01Pretest 71
Posttest 72
6
Grammar Group Spring 2001-02 Pretest 66
Posttest 84